randomduck

Activity: road cycling
Location: Dupont Circle > Travilah/Shady Grove, MD > Dupont Circle
Distance: 53.1 miles (moderately hilly)
Duration: 3:04
Weather: sunny, 62 degrees
Avg HR: 152 (max 171)
Type: aerobic

An afternoon ride, as I decided that sleep was good after a late night on Saturday. I got “lost” at one point during the ride - not really clueless as to my location, but definitely not where I thought I was. But the ride was good: good pacing, easy recovery. And the weather couldn’t be beat (though I’m glad I wore arm warmers, all the same)!

Popularity: 23% [?]

More trip recap….

Day Five: February 19

I spent the morning skiing at Alpendorf and Wagrain. Hannes Schaller gave me a lift to the pistes, as he was teaching the Welsh teens yet again. I made a quick rush up to the Sonnenkogel so that I could enjoy my favorite piste a few more times. The day was overcast in the beginning, which meant that the snow held up well for my limited skiing time.

After about 12 runs, I headed back down to Alpendorf, where I returned my skis to Intersport, then walked down to the shuttle bus stop at the gondola base. I perused the various ski shops, where all were trying to clear out their 2006-07 ski inventory. Because the winter, to that point, had been a bust, the prices were really affordable - I almost bought a pair of Atomic GS:11 racing skis, but held off. In hindsight, this was a good thing - they’d have been a pain when navigating the London Underground on the return trip!

(Speaking of snow at Alpendorf: they’ve received almost a meter of new snow in the past few days - great for the Easter skiing crowds! And if I had the money and the time, I’d be there in a heartbeat!)
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Popularity: 48% [?]

Activity: road cycling
Location: Dupont Circle > Potomac/Avenel, MD > Dupont Circle
Distance: 21.6 miles (mildly hilly)
Duration: 1:16
Weather: sunny, 62 degrees
Avg HR: 155 (max 179)
Type: aerobic

An impromptu ride with a couple of PTTC buddies. This was a good scouting ride for the PPTC “Downtown Breakaway” rides, which start up in April. The route has seen its share of frost heaves and construction, so there are many more potholes than in previous years. My fellow riders were training for a race, so the pace was fast - but not too fast. A fun time.

Popularity: 22% [?]

I’m thinking about you!

Popularity: 21% [?]

Activity: alpine skiing
Location: Whitetail Ski Area, Mercersburg, PA
Start time: 0840 hrs.
End time: 1440 hrs.
Vertical Skied: 26,500 ft. over 35 runs
Weather: sunny, 25-50 degrees
Max HR (bursts): 170
Type: anaerobic

A great day of skiing on my new Blizzard skis. I got to the mountain just before the lifts opened, so my first runs were on nice, firm corduroy snow. The crowds didn’t materialize until 10:15 or so, and I took advantage of the scarcity of skiers by skiing some high speed turns, non-stop, with turn radii like a typical GS course. The new skis really held well on all surfaces, and the Marker Piston Control system really made a difference on the underlying boilerplate ice. As the crowds showed up, the snow turned into a nice corn consistency, eventually turning into a mashed-potato slush that was a big workout. With as many runs as I made, the workout was pretty good - my legs burned for the next two days (a good burn, though).

You can view pictures from this skiing excursion here.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Day Four: February 18

I woke up easily this morning, without any jet lag, and went down to the breakfast room with mom. Olga Klammer fed us a lovely breakfast of fresh, hot coffee, cold cuts, fresh butter and jams, and yummy brown bread that’s better than almost anything you can get in the States. I needed the fuel, too because it would be a great day of skiing.

I walked up to the Schaller house (where I’d left my ski equipment the previous evening), where I met Reini and Helmut. We all hopped into the family car for a drive to….

Zauchensee! This was a real treat for three reasons:

1. The Zauchensee area is higher in elevation and at the end of a valley, so it’s a “snow trap,” with deeper and better cover.
2. There’s a well-known FIS-homologated World Cup downhill track at Zauchensee.
3. Along with Flachau, Zauchensee is the other ski area that’s part of the Salzburg 2014 Olympic bid.

That last bit was the kicker. I volunteered at the Salt Lake 2002 games, and had a blast, so I was interested to see what an alpine nation would put forth as a speed venue.
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Popularity: 54% [?]